My approach boils down to using the lightest, best, and least amount of equipment to get the job done, for whatever species I am hunting.  Whether it is whitetails, turkeys, or plains and badlands mule deer, my equipment choices have been honed by trial and error, and an enormous amount of money spent in search of it!  I hope you can glean a bit of information to improve your next hunting trip or season.

Let’s start off with everybody’s (or most everybody) favorite animal, the majestic whitetail.  We know that to be consistently successful with whitetails, we must employ many tactics and consistently try to stay one step ahead of these wily creatures.  Here is my “fast and light” equipment system that enables me to do this:

Lone Wolf Tree Steps

Ambush Tree Saddle

3 Screw in Steps

Grunt Call

“Can” Call

Rattle Bag

Small knife

Small Realtree Bow Hanger

Small saw (for limbs and branches)

Binoculars

Range Finder

The Tree Saddle is rolled up and stuffed in a Badlands 2200, while the tree steps are lashed to the outside.  The screw in steps, calls, sundry items and range finder are stuffed in a cheap fanny pack which is also stuffed into the 2200, while my binoculars hang around my neck.  This is a nice, easy, and fast package that allows me to hunt whitetails from September to January without ever changing the contents of my pack.  I can hunt literally any tree big enough to hold my weight, and can move according to what the deer are doing.  All I have to worry about when I want to go hunting is dressing for conditions and what area I want to hunt!

Next on the list is the venerable thunder chicken!  Again, fast and light equipment are paramount to bow hunting these sharp eyed birds.  As we all know, turkeys can be here today and gone tomorrow, so it is paramount that we be flexible in our game plan to get one on the ground.  But what equipment choices can we make that strays from the typical 3 decoys, ground blind, calls, bow equipment, etc. that often accompany us on our turkey hunts?  Here is my fast and light list for pounding a thunder chicken:

Primos/Double Bull T2 Blind (just right for one or two medium size guys)

Double Bull Tripod Chair (though I am looking for a lighter replacement)

Two Montana Decoy hen turkey decoys

1 “Crystal Thunder Dome” crystal slate call (it’s old, but it’s killed a ton of birds)!

2 different strikers

1 pack of 5 various diaphragm calls

This equipment is either strapped to or stuffed inside the venerable Badlands 2200 pack.  All in all, it weighs about 20 pounds and is a snap to set up and move around with.  This set-up has significant weight savings over my previous equipment choices, which easily topped 40 pounds.  Many times, I would actually stay in an unproductive spot because I dreaded the thought of packing up and moving a mountain of equipment.  Those days are long gone with the ‘fast and light” system above.

Last but not least is the plains and badlands mule deer.  I cannot speak with any authority on chasing mulies in the alpine, as I have yet to hunt them above 7,000 feet.  But with several “lowland” hunts under my belt, I have developed a “fast and light” equipment system that enables me to hunt hard and stay with the deer as needed.

My equipment for a 2-3 day hunt is as such (lack of fresh water limits my stays in the territory I hunt)

Badlands 2200

North Face Cat’s Meow Sleeping Bag (sleeping bag and bivy in the same stuff sack)

Cabelas Bivy Sack (the one that weighs 15 oz)

Thermarest Z-Lite Sleeping pad (may upgrade to inflatable to save some space)

Jet Boil

2-3 Mountain House Meals (I have gone with the MRE equivalent in some cases)

4 Wilderness Athlete Drink Mix packets (2 Energy and Focus and 2 Hydrate and Recover)

 4 Wilderness Athlete Performance bars

Sitka Gear Clothing (appropriate for conditions)

Spyderco Folding knife

2 Alaska Game Bags

2-100 oz water bladders (I take them full, as there is little potable water where I hunt)

Swarovski 10×42 binos on my neck

For this type of quick strike hunting, I take very little extra clothes.  Usually it is what is on my back and feet, with one extra layer for my upper body in the pack.  I love penetrating the areas I hunt 2-3 miles and hunting the deer I find there.  As usual, the further I can get from the road, the better the hunting.  2-3 miles is about max in my territory, as if I go further than that I get diminishing returns (close to a road on the other side).

You will notice a common thread of the Badlands 2200 pack.  I feel it is perfect for purposes of a daypack-3 day bivy pack.  It can comfortably handle 25-35 pounds all day, with enough suspension to pack around much more for short distances.  Also, while I didn’t mention it much, a good clothing system is paramount to quick strike hunting.  The days of me fumbling through a mountain of gear to find what I need is over with the advent of the Sitka Gear system.  From Wisconsin whitetails to Nebraska turkeys to Idaho Mule deer, the components of the Sitka Gear system has served me well.  Of course, with our brutal Wisconsin winters, the Sitka Gear has to stay on the shelf when conditions dictate the wool and Thinsulate.  But using the quick strike method the past few years, I haven’t had to worry about the cold weather too much, as I’m usually tagged outJ

Good Hunting!!

Spring Scouting

By Chris Eberhart

Despite what it might look like outside momentarily winter is winding down and spring is right around the corner. That means it’s time to think about spring scouting. For anyone who is serious about regularly tagging mature bucks the few weeks between snow melt and green up are some of the most important “hunting” weeks in the entire hunting year.  What you do now will set the stage for success this fall.

Reading last year’s Sign

The principle reason to scout in the spring is that last fall’s rut sign will still be visible until the woods green up.  Sure, there is always the chance that the mature buck that made last year’s sign is long since dead, but if an area is good another mature buck will take his place. Terrain features determine how deer use them, not the other way around. Since you won’t be hunting for the areas you are scouting for about six months you don’t have to worry about spooking any deer, and having them change their routine to avoid your future hunting.  With this in mind you can walk and inspect every inch of your hunting areas, including bedding areas, which should give you a clear understanding of how deer use your hunting property.

What to look for

The main types of sign to look for while spring scouting are the same that you would look for in the fall. My favorite hunting areas are usually combinations of a couple different things, and each property will have a unique layout.  My best whitetail hunting ambush spots are almost always found near primary scrape areas.  My next priority is staging areas, followed by funnels between bedding areas and transition routes between bedding and feeding areas. Generally, your best spots will be a combination of these. Beyond this I look for stand locations for every portion of the season. This means travel routes to known feeding areas for the early season, out of the way secondary locations for the October Lull, for instance lone oaks in soon to be corn fields, or singular trees along out of the way fence rows, and the locations I just mentioned for the pre-rut and rut.  I also look for locations that fit special circumstances, such as dry islands in otherwise wet bedding areas, or potential locations for cattail ground blinds, just in case the fall weather conditions offer an opportunity to hunt such a location. For gun season look for escape routes, and for the late season travel routes to and from winter food sources. The main facet of spring scouting is to cover every inch of your hunting area and prepare locations for every eventuality.  By doing this you are increasing your ability to adapt to ever changing deer movement, without disturbing them with untimely intrusion in the fall.

Preparing Hunting Locations

The spring is the time to get your trees prepped for fall, all of them, for every situation. Again, since you don’t have to worry about spooking deer, you can take your time and make sure every setup is perfect. This means running your steps up all your trees, setting up your Treesaddle, and clearing out all of your shooting lanes. It also means determining your entry and exit routes to your hunting destinations. If you need to cut a trail through a swamp to get to a tree, now is the time to do it. Deer are very aware of all changes within their home range and will definitely notice what you have done, but since it is spring they will have time to get used to your changes before fall. When you do this stuff in the fall you invariably leave scent and warn the deer of your intentions.

Spring Scouting Advantage

The advantage of having all your hunting spots cleared out in the spring should be obvious. With the majority of your work done now, you will be able to hunt for efficiently and effectively come fall. Your element of surprise increases dramatically when all you have to do is show up and hunt without having to hang stands. It helps tremendously to be able to adjust to any changes immediately. Taking the time to do your primary scouting in the spring will make you a more successful whitetail bowhunter.

This is a very short version of the complete spring scouting procedure. For more: www.eberhartsbowhunting.com

Understanding Morning Whitetail Hunting

By Chris Eberhart

A clear sky of brilliant stars slowly faded to gray and was replaced by burning orange sunrise. Awakening birds chirped, and distant turkey’s raucous morning rise let the whole world know the day had begun.  Clouds of frozen breathe rose in front of my face from my comfortable slow breathing, and a coat of thick white frost covered the meadow grass below me.  There is nothing quite like the magic of sunrise while bowhunting in the morning. The deer hadn’t shown up yet, but I was sure the soon would. As far as I’m concerned there is no better time to be in the woods after mature whitetail bucks than in the morning, and the intangible enjoyment of natural beauty is just a plus. Let me explain.

I have seen, and killed, more mature whitetail bucks during morning hunts than at any other time. Morning hunting for whitetails can be great for you to, but success on morning hunts only comes regularly if you understand what mature bucks do at that time, and if you plan your hunting accordingly.

Deer Movement Patterns

Evening

To understand what deer do in the mornings you have to begin with the previous evening. Most deer, mature bucks included, move from bedding areas to feeding areas in the evening. This is common knowledge. What doesn’t seem to be common knowledge is more detailed afternoon deer behavior. Generally, the young deer and does are the first to make their way to the feeding areas. Almost always the last deer to get up in the evening are the mature bucks. They allow the other deer to depart first and watch and listen for any signs of danger.  If one of the first deer spook, the buck will often stay put until after dark, or may even decide to move in a totally different direction.  Even if the other deer don’t spook, more often than not, especially in areas with any amount of hunting pressure, the buck will only rise and move right at dark. This happens to coincide with the precise moment most bowhunters are descending from their stands and leaving the woods. The ensuing encounters go mostly unnoticed by the hunter, but that particular buck is now certain he is being hunting, knows of a dangerous area, and has had his natural tendency to move nocturnally reinforced. This buck behavior has saved the lives of countless mature bucks, and is one of the main reasons you are less likely to arrow a mature whitetail on an afternoon hunt, than on a morning hunt.  To say that hunters create nocturnal bucks is stretching things a bit, but not far from the truth. One of the first advantages of morning hunting is that you are hunting into the light.

Morning

After a night of feeding, deer return to their bedding areas in the morning. This too is common knowledge, but of course there is more to it. The return movement happens over a span of several hours. Usually the first deer to return are the mature bucks, often they make the security of cover by the crack of dawn. They are followed a little later by does, fawns, and younger bucks, not necessarily in that order. This is just the opposite order of the evening movement pattern, but there are some very important details that every serious bowhunter should be aware of.

One of the first important considerations is the deer’s demeanor. Deer returning in the morning are moving from danger to safety. Though they are still alert, they are simply more at ease during the morning.  Their stomachs are full and soon they will be resting and ruminating in the safety of their beds.  On the other hand, deer moving towards danger in the evening are always on high alert. Are you more relaxed driving away from your home to a new city, or when you are on the last few streets leading home? Deer too are simply more cautious as they move away from safety.  The implication of relaxed deer for bowhunters is simply animals that might not be paying as close attention to their surroundings as otherwise. This may give that tiny added edge, that sometimes makes the difference between filling a tag, and eating tag soup. Comfortable animals are more huntable animals.

More important than demeanor is another normal behavior pattern bucks display, that is definitely a kink in their armor. If a mature buck enters the woods undisturbed he will often spend time in cover, but not quite in his bedding area. Sometimes he will just move about casually feeding, making a rub or two, just taking his time before bedding for the day.  I like to call this behavior delayed return.  Many bucks that would be considered completely nocturnal by most bowhunters are up on their feet and moving just after daylight.

Morning staging is another likely possibility. Mature bucks will enter cover before daylight and stage, or bed down, along the edge of cover where they can observe approaching deer, and approaching danger. These bucks are doing a couple different things. First, during all rut phases they are waiting for receptive does to cross their paths. If a hot doe does pass through all a buck has to do is follow her into the security of the bedding area. This conserves a great amount of energy during the rut, and allows a buck to inspect numerous does without leaving security. Second, they are keeping themselves out of harm’s way. If a predator, hunter, approaches the buck can simply slip into the bedding area undetected. It is a lot safer to follow a doe into cover than to chase her all over the countryside.

Yet another aspect of this staging behavior that is very important to bowhunters is what can happen a little later in the morning. If a buck has staged and no does come by that have attracted his attention, he may rise and cruise the edge of the bedding area for a hot female that crossed into cover elsewhere. His route can take him along the edge of bedding cover and from one bedding area to another by following funnels of good cover. Along the way he may visit primary scrape areas to check them for doe activity. This movement pattern is what hunters often see late in the morning into midday.

How to Use This Behavior To Your Advantage

When you know understand what mature bucks are doing during the mornings, you can put yourself in a position to take advantage of their behavior.  These little fragments of buck activity are what I base most of my morning hunts on. The first thing you should have noticed is where the deer come from and where they are going, from feeding to bedding. You must position your stand accordingly. Attempting to hunt field edges, or food plots, in the morning is mostly futile. Your stand location should be along a travel route close to bedding, perhaps in a staging area, or near a primary scrape area.  Another good option is a travel route between bedding areas.

Just as critical as your stand location is your entry route into the woods. You should have a way to get to your stand that will not spook deer in nearby feeding areas. This might mean walking through a swamp or up a steep ridge, or down a creek bed. Whatever the path, make sure you just don’t go tromping across the feeding areas you expect the deer to come from.  Blow the deer off the feeding area, and the game is most likely over before it began.

Along the same lines you must be in your stand well before the first deer, mature bucks, begin their morning return.  What does this mean for you?  It means that you should be in your stand a minimum of an hour and a half before the crack of light. Being on stand so early may mean a buck will get past you before daylight. This happens often, but if that buck remains undisturbed there is good chance he will appear in front of your stand later in the morning, either through his delayed entry movement or as some aspect of morning staging. You simply have to be on stand before the deer return, and get there without spooking them. 

This sounds elementary but most bowhunters still arrive at their stands just a few minutes before daylight and often with no regard for how they get there.  By doing this they are simply pushing the mature bucks into the bedding area in front of them. Bucks pushed into bedding by a hunter’s careless approach generally will not step back out again that morning. This typical hunter behavior causes bowhunters to see far fewer deer on morning hunts than if they were more careful, and creates the illusion of totally nocturnal mature bucks.

To be able to intercept bucks cruising bedding areas later in the morning, you also have to be on stand. This means a proper morning hunt starts early and ends late. Most of the time I recommend sitting until at least noon, and if you want to get in all of the action 2:00 pm is a good time to climb down.  By sitting late you not put yourself in a position to intercept cruising bucks, and you refrain from spooking them with your exit. The traditional whitetail bowhunting timeframe of disembarking at around 9:30 or 10:00 a.m. happens to coincide directly with this bucks rising from staging and cruising for does. They get up for the same reason most hunters leave the woods. The majority of doe movement is over for the morning. From a buck’s standpoint they can now scent check most of the does in a deer population in a single swoop.  

One More Thing

Another aspect of morning hunting that makes it appealing is simply the fact that there are far more other hunters in the woods in the evening than in the morning.  In most areas I hunt I have come up with counts of at least five to one, and in some places ten to one. Just drive around known hunting areas and compare the number of cars parked morning to evenings and you will probably come up with similar results. The reasons for this are clear. Most hunters work schedules allow for afternoon hunting only, if at all, and more times than not they are only able to hunt on weekends.  And it is tough for a lot of people to get up early in the morning, especially on a day off work. You wouldn’t believe how many bowhunters I know who almost never hunt mornings simply because they don’t like to get up early. A lot of these guys are the ones who are convinced they see far more deer on afternoon hunts anyway.  With fewer hunters in the woods there is a better chance that a mature buck makes it to you undisturbed.  This is simple mathematics. In fact, a quick look at the record books will confirm this. Although there are far fewer hunters in the woods on morning hunts, the number of bucks entered in the “books” are split almost fifty-fifty between morning and evening kills. Perhaps those hunters going out of their way to hunt mornings have a secret they don’t want the rest of us to know about.

Conclusion

Following that magnificent sunrise not much happened for several hours. Then around 9:30 a lone six pointer crossed through about forty yards away and passed into the nearby bedding area. Shortly after that a doe and two fawns hurriedly swooped out of the bedding area, moving parallel to it, continuously glancing behind them.  On their heels was a mature eight pointer that also emerged from the bedding area. With that big doe clearly on his mind he crossed into my shooting lane at just a bit over twenty yards. Without thought I drew my bow, aimed, and blatted to stop him. My arrow was on its way, before I knew what happened. The thick shouldered buck toppled to the ground just a stone throw away after a futile attempt to make the security of the bedding area. Indeed, there certainly was some luck involved, but I like to think there was little more to it than that. I’ll take mornings for whitetails anytime, and not just because I enjoy watching a good sunrise.

About the Author: Chris Eberhart is an outdoor writer from Michigan. He is the author of Whitetail Access: How to Hunt To Whitetail States Cheaply and Effectively, Precision Bowhunting: A Year-round Approach to Taking Mature Whitetails, and Bowhunting Pressured Whitetails. www.eberhartsbowhunting.com

chris@eberhartsbowhunting.com